Quick thoughts and takes on every Week 9 SEC game.
Texas A&M 49, Mississippi State 30
Well THERE we go, Texas A&M. It really is possible to come up with an interesting and fun offensive performance. Kellen Mond was fantastic, completing 17-of-23 passes for 234 yards and three scores, and he ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns. The ground game ripped off yards in chunks, and the O keep pouring it on in the explosion that’s been missing at times throughout the first part of the season.
Mississippi State was able to run, too. Kylin Hill took off for 150 yards and a touchdowns, Garret Shrader threw three touchdown passes, and the O was able to move a bit … after the game was effectively over. The three turnovers ended up crushing the Bulldogs – they had to be perfect, and weren’t. They had to come up with a few early defensive stops, and couldn’t.
There’s still time for MSU to go bowling with a trip to Arkansas up next and Abilene Christian and Ole Miss late. It’ll have to win all three games, and the team has to bust through this ugly funk on both sides of the ball, but it’s possible to get to six wins.
That’s what you’re supposed to do against bad teams. Texas A&M got its fifth win, it’ll get its sixth next week against UTSA, and it’ll at least be bowl eligible. That might not seem like that big a deal, but considering the Aggies weren’t going to win the SEC title this year, it’s a good run against a schedule that looked so nasty before the season. Beat the Roadrunners, and the pressure will effectively be off with Georgia and LSU to close after the South Carolina game – the team can let it rip and have some fun.
Tennessee 41, South Carolina 21
There was a time when Tennessee was deep in the conversation to be WR U. It’s not back there yet, but that’s what the Vol targets are supposed to do – that was a whole lot of fun. Jauan Jennings caught seven passes for 174 yards and two scores, and Marquez Callaway caught three passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. Jarrett Guarantano hit 11-of-19 passes, JT Shrout connected on 7-of-11, and Tennessee had a real live offense for a full game.
South Carolina threw well, but the defense couldn’t do its part. Ryan Hilinski threw for wee over 300 yards, but the offense fell flat in the second half just as the Vols kept on rolling. The Tennessee D pressured Hilinski, and the USC defensive front couldn’t do anything against the Vol backfield.
Tennessee is now at 3-5 with an honest goal of going bowling. It gets UAB next, then at Kentucky, then at Missouri, then Vanderbilt. Go 3-1, and this turns into an amazing season. For South Carolina, this ruins any and all positive things from the Georgia win a few weeks ago. Now at 3-5, things look a whole lot uglier then they do for the Vols with at Texas A&M and Clemson to close out after dealing with Vanderbilt and Appalachian State.
NEXT: LSU 23, Auburn 20
LSU 23, Auburn 20
Don’t look too much into the final score. Auburn has one of the nation’s best defensive lines – DT Derrick Brown was a bear with seven tackles, a sack, and a few other big plays behind the line – it’s a tough team that’s able to keep things close, and it doesn’t quit. LSU needed to battle to the very end, and not everything worked like it had throughout the first part of the season, and it still got the win. You wanted to see what Joe Burrow could do when he got hit? Here you go.
Burrow completed 32-of-42 passes for 321 yards and a touchdown with a pick, and he ran for a score. He did what he needed to do to stay in the Heisman race, but more importantly, he got LSU to the week off at 8-0. He held up, Clyde Edwards-Helaire helped the cause with 136 yards and a score, and the LSU version of the Tigers got by despite getting flagged 12 times and being a -1 in turnover margin. However …
Auburn only had the ball for 27 minutes and was flagged 15 times. Bo Nix struggled – he only completed 15-of-35 passes for 157 yards – struggled on third downs, and couldn’t get the offense moving on a consistent basis. Even so, he was still able to do just enough when the game was still a fight. It was the third game against a good team – Oregon and Florida the others – and he wasn’t great in any of them. That Auburn was close to winning all three shows how good the team really is.
LSU got to 8-0 with two weeks off for the showdown against Alabama. This win might have been even more than that. Now, with at Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M to close out, the team might be just strong enough to be College Football Playoff-worthy at 11-1 with a good, close loss at Alabama. Win, and obviously that changes the dynamic.
Auburn gets Ole Miss next week, then gets to play giant-killer with Georgia and Alabama coming to Jordan-Hare. This was the last road game, and all things considered, the team held up well despite getting just one home date since September 14th. A New Year’s Six game is still in play, but it’s a beaten up team that’s going to need the time off – it gets two weeks – before dealing with the Dawgs.
NEXT: Kentucky 29, Missouri 7; Alabama 48, Arkansas 7
Kentucky 29, Missouri 7
Somehow, Kentucky keeps on finding ways to put the pieces together. WR Lynn Bowden might have only completed 3-of-7 passes at quarterback for 54 yards, but in the sloppy conditions, he ran for 204 yards and two scores on 21 carries to pull off the win. Essentially, UK took what Wyoming did in Mizzou’s opener – keep the ground game going and get production from the quarterback spot on the ground – and made it all go.
Missouri wasn’t able to get much going in the rain, and now, after the ugly loss ti Vanderbilt the week before, the team has hit a major lull. The offense has gone stagnant, and the run defense is getting gashed. Kelly Bryant completed just 10-of-19 passes for 139 yards and a score. The Cats got pressure on him; the Tigers couldn’t get to Bowden.
Mizzou gets two weeks off, and it couldn’t come at a better time. The team is playing gassed, and it needs to find the offensive pop again with Georgia and Florida up next. Kentucky now can really and truly think about going bowling. With Tennessee, at Vanderbilt, UT Martin and Louisville, winning out isn’t out of the question, either.
Alabama 48, Arkansas 7
As expected, the timing of the Tua injury couldn’t have been better. The rest of the Crimson Tide stepped up, was perfect, and put away Arkansas after the first few drives. Mac Jones completed 18-of-22 passes for 235 yards sand three scores, Jerry Jeudy caught seven passes for 103 yards and two scores, and Najee Harris ran for two touchdowns. However, the day was about the D …
Arkansas QB Nick Starkel didn’t get to have a whole lot of fun. The Texas A&M transfer completed just 5-of-19 passes or 58 yards with three picks, and freshman John Stephen Jones hit 6-of-7 throws for 49 yards and a touchdown in garbage time. Arkansas was never in the game – it was dealing with a humming team that rallied around the loss of its star quarterback. The Hogs managed just 213 yards of total offense.
Ankle watch is on. Forgetting that it’s a bad way to phrase that, but the focus of the next two weeks will be on Tagovailoa’s injured leg. On the plus side, Jones was more than comfortable in the attack, and he got a live scrimmage to gear up. LSU comes in next, then it’s at Mississippi State, Western Carolina, at Auburn. It’s a two-game season with a possible SEC Championship appearance – the team is still getting better, while …
Arkansas is getting worse. Playing Alabama will do that, but now at 2-6, it’s going to take something special for the Hogs to come up with anything other than a wipeout season. The offense isn’t a differentiating factor in any way, but on the plus side, three of the last four games are at home. Mississippi State, WKU, Missouri – there’s no reason to not be able to bomb away enough to at least be competitive in two of those, as long as the picks stop.
